Joining methods for bulk metallic glasses

Abstract

Bulk metallic glass having at least one surface: applying a contact layer to at least a portion of the at least one surface of the bulk metallic glass; applying a diffusion barrier layer to the contact layer; applying a cap layer to the diffusion barrier layer to form a layered bulk metallic glass; and joining a material to the layered bulk metallic glass.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 providing a bulk metallic glass having at least one surface;   applying a contact layer to at least a portion of the at least one surface of the bulk metallic glass;   applying a diffusion barrier layer to the contact layer;   applying a cap layer to the diffusion barrier layer to form a layered bulk metallic glass; and   joining a material to the layered bulk metallic glass.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the contact layer comprises chromium and nickel, titanium, palladium, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the diffusion barrier layer comprises nickel, platinum, palladium, tungsten, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the cap layer comprises gold, platinum, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the diffusion barrier layer is comprised of dull-sulfamate nickel. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising depositing an insulating layer onto any bare portion of the bulk metallic glass prior to the applying the cap layer. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the insulating layer is comprised of silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the joining comprises soldering the material to the layered bulk metallic glass. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the soldering comprises using one or more solder preforms. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the soldering comprises pre-depositing solder onto the layered bulk metallic glass. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the material comprises a cap layer comprising gold. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the providing the bulk metallic glass comprises casting of a melt of the bulk metallic glass into a mold. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the providing the bulk metallic glass comprises casting the bulk metallic glass and thermoplastically forming the bulk metallic glass. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the providing the bulk metallic glass comprises forming or sintering a metallic glass powder. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the bulk metallic glass is a composite material comprising a metallic glass phase and one or more crystalline phases, amorphous phases, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A bulk metallic glass submount comprising:
 a bulk metallic glass having at least one surface;   a contact layer on at least a portion of the at least one surface of the bulk metallic glass;   a diffusion barrier layer on the contact layer; and   a cap layer on the diffusion barrier layer.   
     
     
         17 . An electronic package comprising the bulk metallic submount according to  claim 16 . 
     
     
         18 . The package according to  claim 17 , wherein the package is an LED or a semiconductor laser package. 
     
     
         19 . The glass according to  claim 17 , wherein the bulk metallic glass is a composite material comprising a metallic glass phase and one or more crystalline phases, amorphous phases, or combinations thereof.